Prevalence of bacteria food poison from vegetable salads.

BACKGROUND: Recently, there were several cases of bacterial food poison in the student community of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. However, there were no studies that Isolated the common bacteria causes of food poison in this environment. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize the common bacteria food poison in Ekpoma, Nigeria.METHOD: Ten prepared vegetable salad samples obtained at various sales points in Ekpoma were investigated for the isolation of Bacteria using standard cold and non-cold enrichment method. RESULT: The result obtained demonstrated the presence of Staphylococcus aureus (50%), Bacillus (30%), Proteus (20%), Yeast (10%). The commonly diagnosed Listeria monocytogene was not isolated. CONCLUSION: Appropriate hygienic measures for the consumption of raw food products, canned foods and vegetables should be practiced.